November 09, 2008

Tutorial: Elastic waist A-line skirt

Thanks for visiting my skirt tutorial. You might also be interested in the simple skirt, the drop waist skirt or the ruffle skirt. If you make one of these please let me know how it turned out! Thanks.

Make your pattern:
First: Top width of pattern
Measure hips (widest part). Add (at least) 1 inch then divide total number by 4.

Example: hips= 25 inches

25 + 1= 26
27 DIV 4 = 6.5 inches

Second: Length of pattern
Measure waist to bottom of skirt, however long you would like. Add 1 inch for bottom hem and 1 1/4 inch for elastic casing at waist.

Example: Finished skirt length = 12 inches

12 + 1 + 1.25 = 14.25 inches

Third: Create pattern
You can do this on a large piece of paper or right on your fabric with a water soluble marker. In this example I did it right on the fabric. You will make 2 identical pieces. Each piece will be cut on the fold. Fold right sides together. Make sure the pattern goes with the nap or grain if there is one. With this example I was able to fold the fabric like this so I used less than half a yard.

Mark dot A (see picture). Use straight edge ruler mark dot B directly horizontal to dot A. Draw line 1 between dot A and B. For our example it is 6.5 inches long.

Connect dot B to line 2 with a diagonal line (line 3). The angle of the line is up to you. The greater the angle, the fuller the skirt. The point where this diagonal line connects with the horizontal line you drew is dot C on our example picture.

Cut out on the lines. Create a second piece the same size using the first piece as a guide.

Sew it together
1. Lay pieces on top of each other, right sides together. Sew up each side with a 1/2 inch seem allowance.

2. Finish seems by trimming with pinking sheers. Iron seems open.

3. Make elastic casing by folding down top edge 1/4 inch and iron. Turn 1 inch and iron. Stitch casing closed by sewing close to the edge, leaving plenty of space for the elastic. (sorry this pic is from a different skirt casing!) Leave a 2 inch opening to insert elastic.

4. Cut elastic 1 inch longer than waist measurement. Feed elastic through casing of skirt by pinning a safety pin to one end. Be careful not to lose the other end of the elastic into the casing.

5. Once elastic is fed all the way through the casing, sew elastic together securely.

Comments

Tutorial: Elastic waist A-line skirt

Thanks for visiting my skirt tutorial. You might also be interested in the simple skirt, the drop waist skirt or the ruffle skirt. If you make one of these please let me know how it turned out! Thanks.

Make your pattern:
First: Top width of pattern
Measure hips (widest part). Add (at least) 1 inch then divide total number by 4.

Example: hips= 25 inches

25 + 1= 26
27 DIV 4 = 6.5 inches

Second: Length of pattern
Measure waist to bottom of skirt, however long you would like. Add 1 inch for bottom hem and 1 1/4 inch for elastic casing at waist.

Example: Finished skirt length = 12 inches

12 + 1 + 1.25 = 14.25 inches

Third: Create pattern
You can do this on a large piece of paper or right on your fabric with a water soluble marker. In this example I did it right on the fabric. You will make 2 identical pieces. Each piece will be cut on the fold. Fold right sides together. Make sure the pattern goes with the nap or grain if there is one. With this example I was able to fold the fabric like this so I used less than half a yard.

Mark dot A (see picture). Use straight edge ruler mark dot B directly horizontal to dot A. Draw line 1 between dot A and B. For our example it is 6.5 inches long.

Connect dot B to line 2 with a diagonal line (line 3). The angle of the line is up to you. The greater the angle, the fuller the skirt. The point where this diagonal line connects with the horizontal line you drew is dot C on our example picture.

Cut out on the lines. Create a second piece the same size using the first piece as a guide.

Sew it together
1. Lay pieces on top of each other, right sides together. Sew up each side with a 1/2 inch seem allowance.

2. Finish seems by trimming with pinking sheers. Iron seems open.

3. Make elastic casing by folding down top edge 1/4 inch and iron. Turn 1 inch and iron. Stitch casing closed by sewing close to the edge, leaving plenty of space for the elastic. (sorry this pic is from a different skirt casing!) Leave a 2 inch opening to insert elastic.

4. Cut elastic 1 inch longer than waist measurement. Feed elastic through casing of skirt by pinning a safety pin to one end. Be careful not to lose the other end of the elastic into the casing.

5. Once elastic is fed all the way through the casing, sew elastic together securely.